


The Queen's Dilemma

by Snelly_ESQ



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24219046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snelly_ESQ/pseuds/Snelly_ESQ
Summary: It's been a while since the Horde war ended, but Glimmer's still on edge...well, at least, she thinks she is. With Bow gone, a ball soon, and strange happenings, Glimmer's still got a lot on her mind.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 72





	The Queen's Dilemma

“...which would earn us quite a bit more grain for the reserves this winter, my queen.” Finara spoke to Glimmer, who was sitting on her throne. Glimmer nodded. “Alright then, it’s settled.”

“But you don’t want to hear the alternatives?” Finara asked. “There could be more spending put into the port distri-”

“We’ll need the grain.”

“My queen.” Finara nodded. “I will tell the burgesses that you have made your decision, but such hawkish decisions are-”

“Hawkish? How is wanting more grain Hawkish?”

“Well, my queen, with all due respect, we have enough grain in Bright Moon for at least a few years, even if the harvest from our farmland is bad this year.” Finara walked up the steps to the throne. “I know that it is hard to see the world without war, now that you’ve grown up and lived through so much, but...there’s hardly a force capable of laying siege to Bright Moon.” 

“I know, I just,” Glimmer shook her head, “I worry. There’s still lords out there who are VERY upset about the land ruling.” 

Ah, yes, the Land Ruling. Essentially, it did two things, stop the use of slave labor and rule everyone not within the family as someone who needed to be paid to work fields, and centralized the army. The lords still owned land and had the privileges they’d kept under the feudal system, but the army was no longer a smattering of lordships with different command structures. 

“They want me to decentralize EVERYTHING.” Glimmer said. “Even the Cavalry! The cavalry have ALWAYS been centralized, even during the feudal era!”

“My dear, a few disgruntled lords could hardly hold the palace for more than a few weeks!” Finara said. “I understand the concern. But dear...the world is not all war. And I’m sorry that you were brought up in a world that was.” 

“...We’ll take the grain, but I’ll do what I can to be a little less...hawkish.” Glimmer smiled and crossed her legs. “That’ll be all, Finara.” Glimmer had scarcely promised that she’d be more peace oriented when Spurra of Cand came through the door. The head of the Cavalry of Bright Moon, the army’s pride and joy. Spurra had a few pieces of paper with her. “My queen.”

“Honorable Field Marshal.” 

“The lord uprising in the Kine was defeated. It was more or less just talk. The cavalry is returning.”

“Any casualties?”

“We did hit someone on the head for getting too close to a horse but he lived.”

“Ah. So it was hardly a conflict then, huh?”

“Well, the troubling thing about it is that we caught them marching to the palace from the Kine.” Spurra said. “They said they were going to try and sack the city…”

“But...some horsemen came up and they stopped?”

“I figure they realized what they were up against.” 

“Typical.” Glimmer looked around the throne room. “...Any news of the party Bow went with?”

“No contact with them. A courier did come to one of our outposts in the east, on the border with Plumeria. Something about them returning, no casualty reports.” A silence hung over the air. 

“So,” Spurra said, “I’m assuming the communicator hasn’t worked?”

“I don’t even know what they went after. So no.”

“Something about a group of wizards terrorizing a town in the Whispering Woods? They called themselves...loo-rocks or something?”

“Oh?” Glimmer nodded. “I’ll find his dads, they might know about some of that stuff. Maybe Casta or Beylock, too.” Glimmer stood and stretched. “What time is it?”

“I believe that since you aren’t holding civil questions, my queen, you’re done for the day.” An advisor spoke. 

“Alright...I’ll be headed out then.” Glimmer walked out of the throne room, and decided to try and get….something done. No Catra, no Adora, no Bow, even Micah was busy with things in Mystacor. She didn’t have much to do...well, much but work. 

Letter after letter, singing letters inviting people to a ball that Casta just insisted on throwing! She liked the idea of a party, sure. It had been a year since the last massive war, but Glimmer was still a little afraid to have a party of all things. She wasn’t going to be openly bitter about it, that’d be rude, but...it was fairly easy to see that the whole idea made her nervous about assassins, thieves, things like that. Her big concern right now though was signing all these invites...she went to asta’s office.

“Casta,” Glimmer peeked in, “How many people are even coming to the ball, and do I have to sign EVERY invitation?”

“Glimmer!” Casta scoffed. “It’s...it’s YOUR ball! Well, I mean, it was my idea, but...you need to sign them!”

“I just think the cavalry officers you’ve invited might prefer to see something signed by Spurra, at least….there’s hundreds of these invitations!”

“Well, sure! Hundreds of people are coming, we need a lot of invites.”

“Do they need to be signed? All of them? By me?”

“Just...do it with magic!”

“C’mon, Casta, you KNOW my magic handwriting is garbage.”

“Well, this’ll be good practice!”

“Oh, sure! Good practice of my bad magic handwriting while people wonder who ‘glinner’ is and why she’s inviting them to the palace!”

“Good point…” Casta thought. “Hmm….perhaps they don’t need to be signed.”

“They do have the seal on them.”

“Fair. I say we go without signing them. Just get them to the post and make sure they all go where they need to.” 

“What about the ones I signed?”

“Ehh, they’ll just be special ones.” 

“Sweet, thanks casta, gonna go cut my hand off because it keeps cramping, see ya!” 

“Cut quick sweetie!” 

Glimmer huffed as she got back to her room. She looked out at all of the land she could see from it, the port district near the mouth of the Zoln River to the densely packed town which lay before the palace. She could see the border with the lands and Plumeria, the flat farmland of Bright Moon turning into the dense woods that made up the border. She saw the sun starting to set, but as she faced east she saw the penumbra of the planet, slowly creeping up to wrap the planet in night. The wars really were over, as instead of the sound of siege engines drawing closer, or the view of spires, there was nothing but a sea of clouds, slowly emerging stars, and the slight din of the city below. 

She thought about a lot of things. 

Was she overthinking this? The grain decision, sending the cavalry to that possible uprising, and now this weird thing with Bow and those wizards? She almost even said no to the party, what if someone tried to assassinate her or something? Casta’d insisted, and she went along with it, but...was she being too paranoid? 

A knock on the door. 

“...Glimmer?”

A voice. Her father’s. She turned around. “...you make an awful Micah, DT.” She crossed her arms. “He wouldn’t have knocked, he’s never been great at that.” 

“Oh, fine.” Double Trouble walked into the room, in their normal form, but wearing...a hussar’s uniform? Saber, gloves, slouch hat and everything. Even a cloak for the weather. 

“What’s got you in that?”

“Oh! I posed as one. I don’t mind the look on me, what do you think?”

“It’s alright. Why’d you pose as one of them?”

“To find your man, what else would I be doing these days? Not exactly the world’s busiest spy these days.”

“Why were you looking for Bow?” She asked. “And why’d you steal a cavalry uniform to do it?”

“UUUUUGH I can’t just WANT to do something, can I!? Always gotta be some sorta ulterior motive, I can never be curious, huh!?”

“Jeez, alright! I just...didn’t know that would be a soft spot for you, sorry.” 

“It’s fiiiiiiiiine.” They groaned. “Last they saw him and his group he was near Solre, a little fruit farming village. Apparently some crazy wizards in masks showed up and started threatening the locals if they didn’t point them toward some...thing?”

“...anything happen?”

“Not sure, but they said everyone lived so I’m assuming it was a false alarm.”

“Heh...we’re all on edge. False alarm is likely.”

“What’s got you all on edge, Queenie?” Double Trouble asked. 

“Well, y’know, the whole decades long war that killed a lot of people.”

“Been a year since then, sweetie, give it a rest!”

“It’s easy for you to say that. You waited it out in the crimson wastes and apparently posed as Peekablue and then just chilled out hiding as a clone.”

“I did what I needed to to survive.” 

“I had to almost kill my own FATHER, so forgive me if I’m just a little on edge while you have no problems!”

“Alright, fine!” Double Trouble stood. “Keep being on edge sweetie, I’m sure that’ll be great for your wrinkles.”

“I don’t HAVE any!” She shouted as they left. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “...maybe they're right. Maybe I’m just...scared. Maybe we’re all too scared.” She thought aloud for a moment. “The horde’s been gone for over a year now, and all I have to worry about are these masked wizards, and...but what if they’re something worse?” She sighed. “Or what if they’re just pranksters?” 

“Sparkles.” The door opened AGAIN, this time revealing Catra. “Adora and I are home. Who were you talking to?”

“Myself.” 

“...”

“...that’s...that’s normal right?”

“...suuuuuuuuuuuure is. Yep. Normal as the day is long.” 

“Hey Glimmer!”

“Hey, Adora.” She sat on her bed. “So….uhm….Catra, how much did you hear?”

“Adora heard all of it but I’m the only one brave enough-”

“Rude enough-”

“Right, like I said, brave enough to come in and ask you about it.” She said. “You having paranoia issues, Sparkles?”

“...yeah. Bad ones, I guess.” She sat down and sighed. “It’s just...this sort of paranoia on my end would be fine if the war was on, or if there was a plague…” She sighed, “But there isn’t even a war on! How am I still scared?”

“It’s okay to be scared, Glimmer.” Adora said. “You seriously had, like...a lot of bad stuff happen to you. Being scared is okay.”

“Well, sure, but...I just feel like maybe I’m being a bit too overzealous sometimes?”

“Hey, liking safety is fine.” Catra assured her. “And being nervous about your boyfriend...boyfriend?”

“It’s-” She nodded. “Boyfriend.” She wasn’t about to drop the big fancy F on THEM yet. She nodded. “Boyfriend.”

“Right. Anyways it’s safe to be a little nervous. You haven’t done anything SUPER crazy. You aren’t just locking people up for not liking you or anything, right?”

“No, that’d be stupid.”

“Good!” Adora said. “Then you’re fine.” Adora hugged her. “All you need to know is that the horde is gone, and if something happens, we’ll do everything we can to help.”

Catra crossed her arms, and rolled her eyes, but….hugged anyway after a while. 

“Thanks guys.” 

They left her alone, and Glimmer peeked out the window. She was scared. She was horrified. But...she was safe. She had the best friends she could ever ask for. 

She was ready for anything that could come next. 


End file.
